Golden Coast
Golden Coast is a subregion of Moon Island, governed by Jonathan Mason, who happens to be the son of Nexonan Emperor SlenderXP. It is a region known for being rich in platinum, natural gas, oil and gold. Thanks to these resources, the region has one of the highest GDP per capita on the island, which enabled the Golden Coasters to enjoy prosperous lifestyles. Golden Coast is also Moon Island's main arms-manufacturing and military hub. The largest city and state capital is San Anderrie, while the city of Pheonix is renowned for being the holy city and pilgrimage site of the Solar Guardian faith. History Golden Coast was ruled by a series of autocratic Presidents, including Slender's family when they were exiled to Golden Coast in 1957 by Nexonan Emperor Charles III and had the land ceded to their control. During this period, massive deposits of minerals were discovered, which allowed the republic's economy to drastically expand and reduced its reliance on natural resources. When Golden Coast joined Moon Island and Shops Island as a territory of Moon Island in 2010, the island experienced democratization in a scale never before seen. 2016 Golden Coast-Sevory Conflict The Mason Family has long hold a monopoly on the political scene of the region, which led to dissatisfaction by several wealthy families who were located at Sevory. On 4th February 2016, they financed an independence movement which declared Sevory to be an independent subregion from Golden Coast. Taking advantage of the stats's relaxed gun laws, they bought weapons in huge bulk and created the Sevory Rebel Army, which successfully took control of most of Sevory for a short period of time. However, they failed to notice that they were basically trying to secede from the most militarily powerful region, not to mention that the Mason family has networks of agents around the region. On 17th February, the family engineered an economic crash and caused almost every companies in the region to declare bankruptcy. As stock and property prices dropped to an all-time low, the family took over companies and properties worth a total 68 billion WB$, at only the price of 680 million WB$. Golden Coast's Security Forces then invaded Sevory, which fell in only a matter of days as most members of the SRA defected. By the time the region was officially recaptured, the Mason family profited enormously and their rivals were eliminated. Politics Politics of the state is dominated by SlenderXP's family, who has been ruling the state for several hundred years. Almost every mayorships, county council seats, city hall seats and regional legislature seats are held by SlenderXP's relatives and friends. Despite this, elections are held freely and the voters vote for SlenderXP's allies. Officially, SlenderXP's family makes up a party named the Moon Island Reactionary Party, known for its hawkish ideologies and advocating Shopper dominance and nationalism, not to mention free trade and strict environmental laws. Demographics Golden Coast has a population of 803,000 Antarctic creatures. Out of these, 353,000 are Puffish, 150,000 are Snoss, 100,000 are Frankterrean, 100,000 are Alemanian, 20,000 are Antarctican and the rest are natives. As of 2015, 93% of all Golden Coasters own a mobile phone. All Golden Coasters are employed and sheltered, partly thanks to the philanthropic acts of SlenderXP's ruling family. 2 out of 3 Golden Coasters own cars, and the entire population is literate, with 100% of them being high school graduates and 87.2% of them being college graduates. Culture Thanks to the high-stress environment of the workplace and high-incomes, Golden Coasters love to spend money on leisure. Therefore, they spend their time socializing in either a coffeehouse, a nightclub or a tennis court. Coffeehouses are one of the most important places where Golden Coasters hang out at. Usually, board games like backgammon, chess and checkers are played here, provided by the coffeehouse's management. Most coffeehouses also offer a selection of books for its patrons to read. The most popular coffee drinks served in Golden Coaster cafés are cappucino, espresso, Turkish coffee, latte and long black. A selection of sweet pastries and savoury food are also available for purchase at the coffeehouse's premise. Nightclubs provide a more entertaining alternative to the relaxing cafés. In nightclubs, Golden Coasters dance to the disc-jockey's music and drink Cream Soda, an intoxicating drink or any cocktail devised by the bartender. Most nightclubs also act as legal mini-casinoes, allowing patrons to play poker, craps, roulette and blackjack. However, most Golden Coasters prefer to visit large casino-resorts if they want to gamble. Golden Coaster casinoes are known to attract wealthy penguins who want to play baccarat, a game that the Golden Coasters consider so scared that it is only played at the exotic palaces of SlenderXP's allies and casinoes who pay the government a 1,000,000 WB$ license. Golden Coasters also spend a lot of money on high-quality food, partly due to Frankterrean influence. Fast food is heavily frowned, not for being unhealthy but for being 'lower-class' by the Golden Coasters. There are only 3 McDoodles in the region, 2 located at San Anderrie and 1 at Pheonix. In compaison, there are 128 sushi bars in the region, 42 at San Anderrie and 40 at Pheonix. Frankterrean cuisine is prevalent here, followed by traditional Alemanian home-cooking, Ligurian cuisine, Japalandese sushi and Zhouese restaurants serving authentic dim sum. Transport Public transport in Golden Coast comes in the form of high-speed solar-powered trains linking each cities and towns to each other, which travels at 195 km/h. Within these cities and towns are their own subway systems. It is free to travel in subway systems, while it costs only 5 WB$ for inter-cities train ride, with an extra 2 WB$ charge for every luggage weighting 2 kg and above, with the price increasing by 1 WB$ for every kilo. The introduction and legalization of the Furbar taxi-dispatch company in 2016 also provided more options for Golden Coasters, although they prefer their subways or their own cars. Golden Coast's four major cities each have at least 2 airports, one for domestic flights (defined as flights to other airports in Moon Island and Shops Island) and another for international flights. Smaller airfields for chartered business jets and privately-owned planes also exist. The largest of these airports is the Jonathan Mason International Airport (also codenamed as the JMX Airport), which is the hub of the partially state-owned Golden Coast Airlines (which in reality was under the control of the governor's family). The most common car owned in Golden Coast is either a BMW 3 series, a Volkswagen, a Land-Rover or a Humvee. It is also common to see Peugeots, Renaults and Alfa Romeo sedans on the streets. Those with more money prefer to afford a BMW 7 Series, a Mercedes S-Class or an Aston Martin. However, the richest of the region's inhabitants - members of SlenderXP's family, tend to be seen driving Lamborghinis, Maybachs, Bugatiis, Rolls-Royces and other luxury cars. Governor Jonathan himself goes around in a gold-plated Rolls-Royce escorted by 3 7-series BMWs and 5 Land-Rovers. It is not uncommon to see at least 10 Ferraris, Lamborghinis or Maseratis parked near a high-end restaurant where several members of the governor's family were having a meal, or that said relatives' cars having unique paint jobs. Healthcare Since mostly everyone works for businesses owned by SlenderXP's family, healthcare insurance is provided to them by Golden Insurance Inc, which is itself owned by the ruling family. As a result, healthcare in Golden Coast is quite cheap. Dental care, vaccination services and general physician consultation are free for all Golden Coasters, while surgeries costing over 9,000 WB$ are also free. Prosthesis are also free. Patients currently living in ICUs or on life support don't need to pay for their medical fees as well, unless they passed the critical stage of their illness/injury. Medical equipment and treatment in Golden Coaster hospitals and clinics are some of the best in the world. There are currently 11 hospitals and 24 clinics in Golden Coast. Economy Thanks to large deposits of platinum, oil, natural gas and gold, most Golden Coasters manage to enjoy a fine life. There is currently a surplus of 523 billion WB$ in the region's coffers in banknotes, 324 billion WB$ in platinum bars and 300 billion WB$ in gold bars. Security and Defence As of 2015, 10,700 SIA agents, 27,000 police officers, 2,000 SIA commandos and 20,000 SIA soldiers are stationed at Golden Coast. There is also an EPF branch here, with over 6,000 EPF agents stationed here. The police receives lots of funding, as shown when it is able to afford armored tanks. In addition to this, SlenderXP's family is known for employing mercenaries to guard its business interests. Some members of it even started private military companies of their own. As of now, there are over 13 PMCs based at Golden Coast, with a total of 12,500 mercenaries at the region. Trivia *A prohibition on alcohol has been in effect at Pheonix ever since its establishment. *Capital punishment is carried out via the guillotine. Category:States